Vacuum aspiration has become popular in several surgical procedures including fat liposuctions, spontaneous miscarriages, and premeditated abortions. A typical apparatus used in abortion procedures is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,774,613 where an airtight collection bottle is connected to and in communication with a source of suction. One end of a suction catheter extends partially within the collection bottle. A filter trap surrounds the one end of the catheter within the bottle. With negative pressure maintained within the bottle, the distal end of the catheter is selectively positioned within the patient so that the negative pressure sucks the embryo, placenta and other matter from the uterine wall and evacuates such matter into filter trap within the collection bottle. Fluid material passes through the filter and is collected within the collection bottle while solid matter is retained in the filter trap.
Another vacuum aspiration device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,133. There, a separate collection assembly is used with a water bottle and fluid reservoir to maintain separation between the liquid and solid material and to provide instantaneous visual examination as the operation proceeds. Other suction collection devices are disclosed in the following U.S. Patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor ______________________________________ 4,675,010 Siposs et al. 4,643,197 Greene et al. 4,522,623 Lauterjung 4,516,973 Telang 4,455,140 Joslin 4,443,220 Hauer et al. 4,388,922 Telang 4,195,633 Nehring et al. 4,111,204 Hessel 3,768,478 Fertik et al. ______________________________________
With these and similar devices which filter solid matter from liquid matter, when the procedure is complete, the specimens contained in the filter trap (a mesh bag or stockinette) are prepared for transport to pathology for analysis. While still in the operating room, the specimens within the stockinette are separated from the liquid matter in the jar by removing the lid and withdrawing therewith the stockinette and its contents. It is frequently the case that the stockinette is so swollen with solid matter that it must literally be wrenched and twisted from the mouth of the bottle. In some cases, the stockinette must be cut and the contents withdrawn in sections. Once removed from the bottle, the specimens and stockinette, still dripping with blood, are placed on a tray or in another bottle and taken from the operating room to pathology for testing. The original collection bottle is emptied, taken by a scrub nurse from the operating room for cleaning and is then returned for another procedure. In many cases, the collection bottle is not sterilized, which enhances the possibility of contaminating the specimens of the subsequent procedure which can result in erroneous test results and misdiagnosis. The numerous instances of exposure to the air, the additional containers and the health technician also increase the chances of contaminating the specimen.
The risk to the various health care workers of contracting various diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis through contact with the stockinette and specimens and with the contaminated collection bottle is also great. The process of preparing the specimens for pathology, including having to wrench or cut a bloated specimen bag from the collection bottle, often results in blood splattering on and around the health care technician. Further, as a doctor, nurse or other health care technician leaves the operating room, his or her gloves must be removed and placed in a proper disposal container. This further enhances the risk of the technician's direct contact with the contaminated specimens or blood. In short, each additional transport and manipulation step which is required in association with the exposed and blood-soaked specimens, as well as with the dumping and cleaning of the collection bottle, poses a higher risk of exposure to disease to the technician. Further, the process of preparing the specimens for pathology including the removal and manipulation of the specimen bag from the bottle requires the consumption of valuable operating room time from one or more nurses or health technicians.
What is needed is a device which collects the solid material separately from the liquid material in a vacuum aspiration procedure and which allows for the more efficient and safe removal and transport of the solid material.